While the Washington Huskies came up short in a close contest against the Illinois Fighting Illini, it seems like UW head coach Danny Sprinkle is pretty proud of how the Huskies played against such a tough opponent.
Illinois was able to advance to 11-3 on the season and 3-1 in Big Ten play with the win over Washington while the Huskies fell to 10-5 overall and 1-3 in conference play. But despite that relatively notable difference in records (it’s still early in the season, to be completely honest), Sprinkle and UW really challenged Illinois.
During a recent press conference, the head coach of the Huskies noted that as well.
“I thought our effort was great. I thought we competed, we were scrappy,” Sprinkle explained. “We got a lot of the loose balls, which is something that Illinois really prides themselves on - they got their fair share too. But like, that's a tough team and I really liked our guys' fight.”
Danny Sprinkle highlights how he’s proud Washington Huskies’ effort in loss against Illinois Fighting Illini
The Huskies trailed in this game early on in a pretty significant way. As Sprinkle noted, Washington really struggled to get the game started.
“Early on, you know, we were struggling. I think we started one for our first 10 from the field,” Sprinkle said. “We had good looks, but we just needed a couple of those to fall to kind of give us a little more juice to start the game.”
The Huskies fell behind and allowed Illinois to claim a 17-point lead at one point. Thankfully, Washington was able to chip into that and by the time halftime rolled around, the Huskies were only down by nine points, trailing 42-31.
Washington made a solid attempt at a comeback, but it unfortunately just wasn’t enough. But, Sprinkle and Washington certainly made Illinois work for this one. Losing 81-77 is frustrating, but Washington is really showing potential right now. And with an upcoming game against Michigan State, the Huskies will have another chance to showcase that potential in a Big Ten game soon enough.